Army plays ‘catch up’ on drone warfare with new operator course

Patty Nieberg

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Soldiers will have the chance to attend the Army’s first official drone course to become experts in flying, building, and repairing them in combat.

Officials at the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence at Fort Rucker, Alabama, announced the launch of its Unmanned Advanced Lethality Course this week. The training is just one part of the U.S. military’s recent efforts to catch up on unmanned systems, which have seen wide use on battlefields across the globe for the past decade.

For the Army’s course, soldiers first attend three weeks of classroom instruction on a variety of commercial drones and complete 20 to 25 hours of simulated flying. The course uses commercially available simulators — “essentially, video games” — to build foundational flying skills, said Leslie Herlick, a spokesperson for the Army Aviation Center of Excellence and Fort Rucker.

“Research indicates that dedicating 25 or more hours to simulators like Liftoff, VelociDrone, or the Drone Racing League can demonstrably improve real-world flight performance,” Herlick said.

After playing drone video games, soldiers head out to the field and practice flying in urban warfare settings. One scenario that soldiers face includes receiving specific enemy target locations and having to employ a reconnaissance or surveillance drone.

After positively identifying a target, soldiers practice taking them out with First Person Viewer, FPV, or one-way attack drones, Herlick said, noting that the course is currently using balloons to “simulate the effects of drone strikes,” to minimize destroying “valuable” drone systems during the training — basically to save money.

Students also learn how to manufacture and repair drone parts with computer-aided design software and 3D printers that use resin, filament, and carbon fiber materials.